WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army says it's investigating an anonymous email that accused service leaders of "moral cowardice" for ditching training standards and allowing undeserving soldiers to become elite Green Berets.

The message was sent earlier this week to a wide swath of the Army Special Forces community. The message says the push to hit quotas has led to a "dangerously less capable" force as flawed Green Beret candidates are nonetheless graduated.

In a statement issued Thursday, the commanding general of the Special Warfare Center and School in North Carolina says he stands firmly behind the "quality of every soldier we are sending to the operational force."

But Maj. Gen. Kurt Sonntag also says comments in the email "warrant further evaluation," and that is being done through "formal inquiries." He wasn't more specific.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.